Alien or Chicken? Dr Richard on Silkie Meat

Following on from his recent post on the healing properties of chicken soup, Dr Richard examines the merits of “black chicken,” which comes from a breed commonly known in the West as Chinese Silkies.

Discussing the nutritional benefits of Silkie meat, Dr Richard writes: “black chicken has less calories than regular chicken, mostly due to less fat… a 100 gram piece of regular chicken has around 8 grams fat, while black chicken has only 2 grams… Recent evidence also shows a higher level of an antioxidant called carnosine.”

As you can see in the above picture, Silkies are a rather odd-looking breed that look more like balls of fluff than chickens. I’ve had a certain affection for the critters ever since a friend and I stumbled upon a group one night while very drunk in a small rural Australian town. At the time we were convinced we’d come across an advance party of extra-terrestrials. Alas, further enquiries revealed them to be nothing more than mildly exotic poultry.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Pet Facts” sites, “Silkies are popular pets because they have a very mild temperament.” The site also notes, “Chinese Silkies can’t fly because they have no barbs on their wings…They also can’t swim. Water doesn’t run off their wing feathers, so they can drown in waterways.”

All in all pretty useless birds in the wild, but apparently tasty and nutritious on the dinner table.